Review: Vertigo Theatre's Wait Until Dark a thrill ride

My advice is, don’t wait to get your tickets to see Vertigo Theatre’s Wait Until Dark.

Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark is a crackerjack 50-year-old suspense thriller that’s been given a dynamite overhaul, first by American playwright Jeffery Hatcher and then by Calgary director Simon Mallett.

Hatcher and especially Mallett have put the suspense back into suspenseful and the thrills back into thriller.

Now set in 1940 instead of 1960, Wait Until Dark is the story of Susan (Anna Cummer) a woman who lost her sight two years earlier in a car accident.

The silver lining to this accident is that Susan met Sam (Tyrell Crews), a war photographer, got married and is learning to live and succeed with her disability in a basement apartment in New York.

The fact it’s a basement apartment and that we can see people’s legs if the blinds are opened is vital to what happens on the fateful day the audience gets to enter the apartment at the top of the play.

Sam is at work at his studio, while Susan has gone to a movie because it helps her construct what is going on simply from clues in conversations and from background noise.

It won’t take you long to see just how effective her movie going has been.

While Sam and Susan are out, Carlino (Paul Cowling) and Roat (Michael Tan) break into the apartment.

They’re looking for a doll a woman slipped into Sam’s luggage on the commuter train the day before and they’ll do anything to get that doll back and I mean anything.

Though Carlino, who impersonates a policeman, is bullish and gruff, it’s Roat who is the psychopath and therefore far more dangerous as we learn in this opening scene.

Cowling and Tan are effectively loathsome but their banter keeps things light, which is essential at this point if the suspense is to build to its nerve-tingling effectiveness.

Their plan is to trick Susan into giving them the doll by running through a series of impersonations trying to make her suspect, among other things, that Sam was having an affair with that woman on the train.

Fortunately for Susan, Mike (Stafford Perry), a war buddy of Sam’s, drops in on this way to the train station to say hello to Sam.

When he senses Susan might be in danger, he agrees to stay to help her.

The sixth character in the play is Gloria (Emma Ross), a young girl who lives in the apartment upstairs and is supposed to help Susan with chores like shopping. That is all you should know about the plot before venturing out because of the play’s clever twists and turns.

From the gasps of disbelief there were many people at my performance who had never seen the film version or a previous production.

Even if you do know what waits for you at Vertigo, you’re still in for a great time because Cummer is such a fine actor and the real fun is not squirming and screaming but watching her figure out what is really happening and deciding how to deal with it.

Cummer gives Susan a sense of humour, especially about her disability, and a razor sharp mind.

There is a scene when Roat and Carlino are in the apartment weaving their dastardly plan that belongs to Cummer as she begins to listen to their movements realizing they are doing some pretty strange things.

Cummer and Perry develop a warm camaraderie.

He’s like a big stray dog that she is eager to have as her protector.

Gloria becomes Susan’s ally as the day wears on and watching Ross go from petulant tween to a brave partner speaks volumes about what this play has to say about independent, resourceful women.

Cowling is wonderfully intimidating, all gruff and officious and we believe him when he says he was a policeman before he slipped into a life of crime.

As much as Perry’s Mike dominates the first act, it’s Tan’s Roat who takes over in act two and he is genuinely scary with all the talk about how much he loves his switchblade and about how absolutely nothing is going to stop him from getting the doll.

It would be unfair to let slip what Roat does or how Susan counters except to say that Cummer’s terror is palpable and contagious.

To give you just a hint, Bravo lists what happens between Roat and Susan as one of the top 100 scariest scenes ever devised for film and, trust me, it’s even more unsettling on stage in this production.

Gasps were audible the night I saw Wait Until Dark as Susan tried to find ways to use her disability to her advantage and especially every time Cummer bumped into something a character had moved in the room and that’s because Cummer makes us believe she is blind.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Market to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.